Monday, March 3, 2008

Free-Market Mediocrity

Many Americans embrace free-market economics. They argue that if consumers were allowed to pick and choose unfettered by unions, government regulations, and social engineering, the best and the brightest would naturally emerge and our great nation would flourish as never before!

I could attempt to make an elaborate economic argument to counter these claims. I could even break out a few charts and graphs. But I have an easier method to show that consumers don't always make rational decisions. Allow me to present one simple fact:

Semi-Pro was the number one movie at the box office this weekend.


2 comments:

  1. now gordie are you saying semi=pro didn't rule!??!!
    thank god i didn't go...

    ReplyDelete
  2. It had its moments when it stuck to being a goofball basketball movie. It inexplicably tried to include a subplot about Woody Harelson being in love with some Flint chick, including a bizarre scene of Woody having sex with her while her husband watched. Damn, if that really happened in Flint I think there'd be some firearms involved. However, all is not lost...The Gold Dust Lounge is fantastic.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.